DECORAH, IOWA  – Monday was definitely worth the wait for the Luther College softball team. The Norse earned their second consecutive American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) and third at Betty A. Hoff Field Monday afternoon, earning two impressive wins over the University of Dubuque. Luther demolished the Spartans in game one with a 9-0, six inning win, before completing a major comeback to win game two 10-7. With the sweep, the Norse are now 28-6 overall and 9-3 in A-R-C play. 

GAME ONE: (RV)  LUTHER (9) vs. DUBUQUE (0) - 6 innings
Luther was firing on all cylinders, both offensively and defensively, in its 9-0, six inning game one win over Dubuque. For starters, the defense didn't have to do much work, as Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) was untouchable in the circle. The fifth year senior tallied 13 strikeouts in six innings of work, including six in the first and second innings alone. She surrendered her lone hit in the first inning, an infield single to the Spartans' slap hitter Bella Allison, and allowed just three baserunners total in the complete game effort.

Her offense, meanwhile, provided plenty of run support, as the Norse scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Belle Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / Chatfield) scored from second on a two out, RBI single by Riley Sauser (Ely, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) to give Luther the early one run advantage. The Norse then tacked on three more runs in the third, as Sauser and Sydney Schultz (Raymond, Iowa / Columbus Catholic) delivered RBI hits to extend Luther's lead to 4-0 after three. 

Another Schultz double resulted in a 5-0 Norse lead in the fifth, but it was the sixth where the team's bats came to life. A sacrifice fly by Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf) scored Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala. / McAdory) to extend the lead to 6-0, but with two outs and two on, it looked like Dubuque might get out of the inning unscathed. Just to be safe, the Spartans opted to walk Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy) and load the bases for Leah Crown (Plato, Minn. / Central). As it turned out, Dubuque chose poorly, as Crown launched the ball over the trees in left field. The three-run home run succinctly ended the game early, as Luther held over an eight-run advantage to win the game by final score of 9-0. 

GAME TWO:  (RV) LUTHER (10) vs. DUBUQUE (7)
Game two did not go as smoothly as game one, as it was, in fact, the Spartans that seemingly held all the momentum after two innings of play. Unlike game one, Dubuque managed to score in the top of the first inning, as back-to-back singles helped the Spartans take their first lead of the night at 1-0. The Norse responded in kind, as yet another Sauser RBI single resulted in a 1-1 draw after one. However, things looked dicey and bleak for Luther after the top of the second, as Dubuque scored four runs on four hits and two Norse errors to hold a distinctive 5-1 lead over Luther. 

Unlike the second, the Norse were unable to answer in the bottom of the inning, and the Spartans went right ahead and added an insurance run in the top of the third to make it 6-1. However, Luther was not deterred, as the Norse started to slowly but surely chip away at Dubuque's lead. After Spore opened the inning with a double to center field, her base runner, Teagan Hansen (Plainview, Minn. / Plainview-Elgin-Millville) went on to score on an infield single by Schultz, cutting the lead to 6-2. Schultz would eventually score from second on a Chloe Wagner (Blair, Wis. / Blair-Taylor) single, making it 6-3 Dubuque after three innings of play. 

The Spartans regained a four run advantage with a solo home run in the top of the fourth, but the winds of change were starting to have an effect in Decorah. The Norse quickly made it a one-run ball game in the bottom of the fourth, as RBI singles from Spore and Allen quickly cut the lead to 7-6. The swift change prompted head coach Renae Hartl to put Cooper in as a reliever, and the fifth year senior wasted no time shutting down the Spartans line up. For the first time all game, Dubuque did not record a hit or base runner in the top of the fifth, which allowed Luther to take an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the inning (yet again because the Spartans opted to walk Spore and face Crown). 

It looked like that single 8-7 lead would be enough for Cooper, but Wagner added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth, blasting a two-run homer over the left field fence to make it 10-7 Norse. Cooper and Luther's defense then did what they do best: shut down Dubuque. The fifth year senior sent the Spartans down in order, securing her 17th win of the season with a fly out to first base, as the Norse won by final score of 10-7. 

TOP NORSE 

• Belle Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / Chatfield), Riley Sauser (Ely, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) and Sydney Schultz (Raymond, Iowa / Columbus Catholic) all recorded two hits in game one against Dubuque. Schultz went 2-3 at the plate with three RBI, while Sauser went 2-3 with two RBI as well.
• In addition to going 1-3 with two runs and three RBI in game one, Leah Crown (Plato, Minn. / Central) was 3-4 in game two with two RBI. Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy) went 3-3 at the plate in game two, while Chloe Wagner (Blair, Wis. / Blair-Taylor) and Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala. / McAdory) both went 3-4 with multiple RBIs. 
• Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) improved to 17-3 this season, pitching nine scoreless innings over the course of two games for the Norse. The fifth year senior went the distance in game one, striking out 13 while holding Dubuque to just one hit in the 9-0 win. She then served as the pitcher of record in game two, pitching three perfect innings of relief with three strikeouts. 

UP NEXT
Luther will hit the road for another big A-R-C series, as the Norse are set to face nationally-ranked Central on Wednesday, May 3. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Pella, Iowa.